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I'm with you, brother, when it comes to the high price of some (or all) sets... even in the US! So what I do is wait for some sets to go on sale (usually at 25-33% off retail) or eventually, a coupon or out-of-the-blue discounting in one (or more) of the local stores I frequent. There is a catch though, one has to be early to take advantage of such as there are other collectors waiting, just like myself. Or, the store may not have enough stock for everyone.

The bottomline is - are you trusting enough to send money to that someone to get you the set(s) and then mail it out to you in Germany (I suppose where you live)? I'm not saying people here in the forum are not to be trusted with such an endevour but as we all know, there are always a few bad apples in any club or organization. What I'm saying is, just be careful with whom you are going to ask a favor/deal with, so you won't come out empty handed. It would be nice if everyone is trustworthy and willing to help fellow AFOLs...

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Imports are getting an interesting alternative in Germany, because the amount of what can be declared as a "gift" is going to be risen in december.

From that point on you may have sent a parcel that is worth 150€.

Sorry, I don´t know if this is relevant for anyone outside Germany...

Just to add to this information... as of May 2007, all packages going international from the US are being sent Airmail (the US Postal Service has discontinued Surface Mail). Please take into consideration the cost of postage if ever any of you want to go this route. For larger boxes like the Green Grocer (for example), might tack in extra cost for 'oversized package' on top of the regular postage.

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Thanks you for your answers so far, I am looking forward to some more opinions on that topic *classic*

I'm with you, brother, when it comes to the high price of some (or all) sets... even in the US! So what I do is wait for some sets to go on sale (usually at 25-33% off retail) or eventually, a coupon or out-of-the-blue discounting in one (or more) of the local stores I frequent. There is a catch though, one has to be early to take advantage of such as there are other collectors waiting, just like myself. Or, the store may not have enough stock for everyone.

The bottomline is - are you trusting enough to send money to that someone to get you the set(s) and then mail it out to you in Germany (I suppose where you live)? I'm not saying people here in the forum are not to be trusted with such an endevour but as we all know, there are always a few bad apples in any club or organization. What I'm saying is, just be careful with whom you are going to ask a favor/deal with, so you won't come out empty handed. It would be nice if everyone is trustworthy and willing to help fellow AFOLs...

No offense, people... just my personal thoughts.

Yes you're perfectly right - finding good sales might be the best option there is. Unfortunately there aren't to many shops that sell LEGO near my place (around Kaiserslauter /K'Town) and I'm mostly limited to Internet sellers so far.

Trust is of course a very important thing in my idea of having some kind fellow sending LEGO to me.

I have found the EB trusted seller list in the meantime and I believe I had read in some topic last time I was here (that's more than a year ago I think *I'm ashamed, yes *sadnew*

) where some members wrote just about this shipping from fellow to fellow. Obviously at least some members do or have done it in the past. Maybe they could post how they worked it out...

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well, do you have any relatives in the US? i think thats the least expensive way to get it, and if not, maybe you could get some sets if you ever come to america for whatever reason. but a warning: after christmas, no more shipments come in for the year, so once their gone, thats it (not sure if thats the case everywhere, and im not sure if BPs still come in) hope i helped! *blush*

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I get my LEGO from shops here (UK), eBay.co.uk eBay.com and BrickLink (US sellers). On BrickLink, The Nerd Shop has great prices *cry_happy* *thumbup*

Hey chris_austin, that's another good idea you mention here - buying from US-ebay-sellers.

But I wonder about the shipping...Do you save your money and then order a whole bunch of sets from one seller? Or is shipping not that expensive that even buying 2 oder 3 sets (say up to 100$) is a good deal?

Anyone else going that way?

Best regards, Benny

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Hey chris_austin, that's another good idea you mention here - buying from US-ebay-sellers.

But I wonder about the shipping...Do you save your money and then order a whole bunch of sets from one seller? Or is shipping not that expensive that even buying 2 oder 3 sets (say up to 100$) is a good deal?

Anyone else going that way?

Best regards, Benny

Sorry for the very late reply to this!

When I buy from eBay US (auctions, not buy-it-now) I don't usually get the option to combine shipping costs but all purchases work out to be cheaper. I won't get into a bidding war for anything

When buying from bricklink, the sellers are usually experienced enough to work out the cheapest shipping. Above a certain weight the costs go up steeply so splitting the order is actually cheaper

One bargain I got in February was a 6759 Imperial Landing Craft for about $16 (not new)